Phillies Sign Luis Castillo

The Phillies officially signed Luis Castillo to a minor league deal, the team announced today. He'd been released by the Mets on Friday. The Mets are on the hook for the 35-year-old's $6MM salary, less the league minimum that Philadelphia will pay him. Castillo will either make the team or be released, GM Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters this morning.

The Phillies have a question mark at second base right now given Chase Utley's knee injury, and Castillo gives them a veteran stopgap. Although he hit just .235/.337/.267 in 299 plate appearances last season, Castillo is only a year removed from a .387 OBP. More than 2,500 MLBTR readers predicted that Castillo would join the Phillies, and Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com was first to tweet the agreement.